Some times cold is good.

OK, that was a little cold. But, in farm country a little cold can be a good thing.

All the almond trees and fruit trees need what are called "chilling hours" to set fruit in the next season. The Valley's climate is nearly perfect for this. The University of California tracks the hours below 45F and below 35F during the winter. With these records we know if bloom will be long or short and even have an idea of crop potential. One of the few things I know about growing almonds is if we do not get enough chilling hours during the winter it will goof the trees up something awful.

   So, this has been a little tough on people and citrus trees, but the almonds have been loving it. Indy and Toby on the other hand, have another opinion. You would think guys with fur coats could handle the cold. That big baby didn't even wait at the truck when I got home. As soon as he was sure it was me he would run and wait at the door. We sure know what he wanted...nap time in my office.

 Christmas Memories

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright December, 2011

One of our Christmas memories from when the kids were younger was going out to a Christmas tree farm, cutting down a tree and bringing it home.

Decorating the Christmas Tree was always a full event at our house.  We had Christmas music blaring, hot cider in the crock pot and cookies coming out of the oven. It was a three ring circus, but we knew we had welcomed in Christmas.

I don’t know what your family traditions are, but I hope you have something like our memories of decorating the family Christmas tree. Our days, weeks and years are full of endless routines. One of the charms of the holidays is that we stop… and take a moment. Yes, I know it gets hectic. I wish we could stretch the holidays into January. But, we don’t do that. So we cram all the bustle- the food, the presents, the decorations, the parties, faith and family visits all together. We cherish the time because these truly are special moments in our lives. We might complain about the hassle, but think about what our years would be like with out the holidays.

Merry Christmas Y’all.